The Chase
by enchantment1972
Summary: In order to repair the TARDIS, the Master is forced to explore a planet that is uninhabitable for humans, leaving Rose alone onboard with the Time Lord Victorious. When the Doctor escapes from his cell, Rose becomes his prey. **Part of the Who's In Love With the Big Bad Wolf?"
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** Don't ask me why but I seem to be on a Timey-Whimey kick recently as well as going through a slight infatuation with the Master. Although to be truthful, I've always had that, as never was there a better nemesis for the Doctor, at least in my eyes.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything in relation to Dr. Who.

"So, how long will you be gone?" asks Rose as she holds onto the console, more for support than for balance.

"About six hours," replies the Master, trying to make it sound as if it wouldn't be more than a few minutes. He takes in her anxious gaze and deathlike grip on the edge of the console while she desperately does her best to appear relaxed.

"You know I wouldn't even consider leaving you alone with him if we didn't need the mercury so badly," he explains with overwhelming guilt, even though it's no one's fault except for the Doctor's own carelessness. He has no idea how a man who tinkers so much with his TARDIS can so easily miss such crucially needed repairs.

She does her best to smile and fails miserably. "I know, it's not your fault, it's like you said…the fluid link has a huge gash in it. If you hadn't discovered it in time, all of the mercury would have leaked out and we would have been stuck in this sector of the universe." She sighs heavily. "We were really lucky to be so close to a planet that has such large stores of mercury."

"Yeah, lucky," he grouses, "so lucky that the nearest planet contains an atmosphere that's completely toxic to humans." He stares at her forlornly and offers, "Rose, you don't have to do this alone, I can stay until we've _both _given him his lunch."

"It's alright," she assures him with a slight tremor in her voice. "I can do this." When he still appears reluctant to leave her, she insists, "Honestly, love, I'll be fine." In a firmer tone, "I'm definitely ready for this."

Now he's the one to clutch the console for support as he shuts his eyes tight and takes a deep breath. Rose slowly heads over to him and trails the back of her fingers along his jaw in a loving caress. "I'll be fine, Master, I promise."

"Fine!" he growls out before he grips her arms and jerks her in front of him. "But be careful, never let your guard down for a second and don't go anywhere near him!" She nods silently and he adds, "And remember how much I love you."

"Always," she whispers back. He hauls her to him and gives her a searing kiss, one full of possession and punishment, almost as if he were marking her as his more than kissing her goodbye. The punishment she senses she knows is aimed at himself and not her, so she does what she always has for him, she attempts to make him better.

Rose draws him tighter against her, pouring all the love and faith that she has for him into this last moment before he has to leave her. Her end of the kiss is just as forceful, making her own mark on him declaring him hers as much as she is his, as they always will be.

She pulls back only when the need for air is too great and he places a kiss at her temple and vows, "I'll be back as soon as I can," before striding to the doors and walking out of the TARDIS.

**888888888888888**

Rose places her hand against the door of the Doctor's cell, and hearing the click of the lock, pushes the door open and enters the room.

He's already sitting up, hands linked behind his head and looking for all the world as if he were casually sitting on the jump seat waiting for her to come out so that they could start out on one of their adventures.

"Hello," he whispers softly. "The TARDIS has informed me that the Master has left the TARDIS. Where's he off to then?"

She goes off to the side of the room where his table is that she leaves his meals on. The TARDIS always lengthens his chains once she leaves the room but for now, he remains tethered on the bench safely away from Rose. "The mercury is leaking out of the fluid link; he's went to go find some more to replenish it."

"Ah, yes," he muses as he stares up at the ceiling. "I'm sorry about that old girl; I've been meaning to fix it. Careening through the void must have punctured it during the crash."

He watches her closely as she sets out his food and makes his tea and murmurs, "So…we're alone then." He suddenly pops up into a full sitting position and chirps, "Great! Now you can release me!"

She doesn't even turn around but she doesn't need to for him to hear the pity radiating from her voice. "That's not going to happen, Doctor, not until we can cure you of this madness."

"And how long will that be?" he questions petulantly as he leans back against the wall.

"I don't know," she replies softly as she turns to face him, her tone full of sorrow. "But I'm not giving up on you, not until you're better."

"You made me better once, Rose Tyler," he recalls fondly as he stares at the wall opposite his bunk." His head swivels around and he pins her with a heated gaze. "You also gave up on me once." He stands and straightens to his full height and warns, "So as a man who doesn't believe in second chances, I'm going to be incredibly generous right now and offer you one last chance. _**Let me go**_."

"I wish I could, Doctor," mourns Rose, "I really, really do."

"Actually," his voice growing cold, "that should be 'Your wish is my command', don't you remember? But no matter!" he exclaims cheerfully as his mania returns and he returns to his seat on the bench. He stares at her and urges, "Come closer, Rose, I want to show you something."

She offers a snort of disgust before inquiring indulgently, "Like what, Doctor?" She averts her eyes while she remains in her spot, leery of the answer that she'll give him but awaiting it nonetheless. She knows better than to walk away from him while he's the Time Lord Victorious; he views it as taunting while she sees it as self-preservation. The Master has had to pull her back from him more than once when he strained at his bonds in attempt to reach her, always for a different reason. Sometimes apologetically, sometimes with excitement or depression, but usually…usually out of downright fury or sometimes even passion. Rose can't help shuddering at the last memory when he was actually able to seize her, promising his own brand of forever. And it had seemed like forever, forever before the Master could remove the Doctor's hands from around her neck.

She unconsciously rubs at her neck in recollection and the Doctor mocks, "I'm so sorry for that Rose, but it's not as if I can go out and buy you a necklace to remember me by, is it?" She stands her ground and glares at this man, this complete stranger to her and for the first time, she begins to wonder if she will ever truly see her Doctor again.

"Well, anyway," he states dismissively, "it's time to show you my latest magic trick!"

"What magic trick?" she asks wearily, trying to speed up his delivery so that she can escape the room as soon as possible.

"This one!" he cries as he lifts both hands into the air. "See? Nothing up my sleeves!" he shows her as he tugs his shirtsleeves down his arms one at a time. His voice changes to a darker tone and if she had to describe it further, almost deadly. "And that includes the manacles that you had me shackled with, Rose Tyler."

Her eyes widen in sudden realization that the Doctor is indeed free and she needs no taunt or threat from him to know that he is coming after her. Perhaps in that one moment, he realizes it as well because she catches one last brief glimpse of her old Doctor as he stares at her wild-eyed with rage while clutching the bench he still sat on if to hold himself back. He growls one word to her and she follows his instruction as swiftly as she did regardless of which of his incarnations had uttered it. "Run."


	2. Chapter 2

Faster and faster, Rose runs through the TARDIS attempting to lose herself in its winding passages and away from the Doctor's wrath. However, it seems that the farther she runs the less chance she has from hiding from him. The corridors are twisting and turning in ways that she doesn't remember and there are walls sprouting up right and left where she knows there should be doors. She fights down the panic as she realizes that his bond with the TARDIS is strengthening and without the Master's own telepathy to interfere with it, the Time Lord Victorious who has taken over her Doctor is now the one in charge.

She continues darting through the changing hallways while increasing her pace, determined to reach the console room even if she doesn't know what she's going to do once she gets there. The planet is uninhabitable for humans and its atmosphere has played havoc with her mobile. With no other way to reach the Master, she has to hope that the TARDIS will give her enough leeway to stay hidden from the Doctor until the Master returns.

After what feels like forever, Rose finally arrives at her destination. She breathes a sigh of relief when she finds the console room empty and wracks her brain to come up with something to hold him off. Almost instinctively, she heads over to the center of the room and places her hands on the console and that's when she's overcome with fear. It's not the adrenaline rush wearing off or even knowing that she's the only sane person onboard a ship that she has no control over, instead it's the undeniable comprehension that the console is cold where it should be warm, like its heart, but at this moment, there's no thought, no life, it's completely barren of anything.

She can't understand how this happened. The Master had been working with her, helping her to temper Bad Wolf so that even if it would be too much power for her to access full time, she would at least still be able to access it in times of emergencies like these.

Then without warning, her question is answered. "I take it that neither of us ever told you that there's a second console room?" She turns around and sees him casually leaning against the wall as if he were simply enjoying a chat with an old friend. And she supposes that in his mind, he is.

He pushes off from the wall as he informs her, "I've directed all of the power there." As the room begins to shake and rock around them, Rose falls to the floor and clutches the grating with her fingers as she makes her way to a coral strut in order to pull herself up.

Obviously prepared for this newest event, the Doctor seems to stroll almost casually through the console room as he pushes off from one wall to another until finally ending his jaunt next to Rose and grasping the coral strut alongside her. "Oh, and I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry, but I forgot to mention that I pre-set some coordinates to takes us into the Vortex. I would have sent us further out but it's going to take a bit of time for me to regain full control over the link again." He roughly grabs her by the chin and squeezes hard. "Thanks for that by the way."

He lets her go as soon as the quaking of the room stops. She leans against the strut linking her fingers through it silently begging for assistance and although she feels a slight hum beneath her fingers, no true answer flashes in her mind.

Rose is scared, probably more scared than she's ever been at this moment, even more than when she was being attacked by him. Because then he was still under their supervision and occasionally showed brief glimpses of wanting their help to return him to the man that he was. But now, now she is rapidly coming to understand that there is to be no help at all. "You can't just leave him there," both of them knowing who 'he' was without saying anything directly. "He'll die without the TARDIS!"

"Serves him right then, doesn't it?" he asks off-handedly while grabbing the other strut next to her and pinning her in with his arms. "Doesn't it?" he suddenly screams at her.

As terrified as she is, she holds her ground. "No," she growls out in anger, at both him and this situation, "he doesn't and you know it! So do whatever you have to do from whatever console room you need to and bring him back to me!"

He throws back his head with a manic laugh. "Like that's going to happen!" The Doctor slowly trails his gaze up and down her body while he studies her from head to toe. "Somebody's been practicing with the Vortex again." He rests his cheeks alongside hers and admonishes, "Naughty, naughty, Rose."

He nonchalantly slides one of his hands down a strut to run his fingers through her hair and gently murmurs, "I've warned you about that before Rose. You remember what happened last time when you opened my TARDIS."

"I remember," she recalls sadly before she stiffens her body in defiance as well as hardening her tone. "But there was never any danger, the Master saw to that."

Abruptly, the Doctor fists her hair in his hand making her cry out in pain. "And what else has he been seeing to Rose?" He releases her as suddenly as he grabbed her. "Not that I even need to ask," he snarls as he steps back away from her to lean against the console, "his stench is all over you."

She knows better to bite out a retort when he's like this and maintains her silence as her gaze darts around the room in search of something, anything to help her out of this predicament.

Her exploration comes to a quick end when the Doctor questions harshly, "Why are you with him, Rose? I could never understand that. Not that I had much time to try and comprehend it mind you, seeing how the two of you ganged up on me and imprisoned me on my own TARDIS."

"We had to, Doctor," she replies softly as she tries to make him see reason. "You endangered two universes and then you continued to do so even after the crash. We had to stop you," she sighs in somber resignation, "if you were in your right mind you would know that."

"Are you sure that's all it is?" he queries inquisitively. He taps his temple and states, "There was always something about you, Rose, something in the back of my mind that screamed out how much you wanted travel and adventure." He strides over to her and runs one finger down her cheek. "I didn't even need to touch you to initiate the telepathy, it radiated off you so strongly. It makes me wonder though…did it really matter who offered you a way off of the Estates, as long as they could take you away? After all, a Time Lord by any other name…" he trails off suggestively.

Her hands clench around the struts to keep her from lunging at him and she bites down on her tongue to stop herself from spitting out a reply. "Why would you choose him when you have me?" he requests again.

He takes a few steps back from her just to spin around with his arms stretching out from his sides as if he was offering her a precious gift. "You don't need him, Rose! I'm the one with the TARDIS; I can give you all of time and space, everything that you want!"

Rose shakes her head gently in a mixture of denial and disbelief. How could he believe that about her, believe that she's more flash than substance? Is that what he's always thought about her? "But that's just it, Doctor, don't you see? The adventure and travel, that never mattered, not really. He shares everything with me; he doesn't hold anything back, not with secrets and not with his heart! Do you understand now? The Master doesn't keep me in the dark, Doctor; he keeps me by his side! And he doesn't just give me what I _want_; he gives me what I _need_.

"You love me, Rose Tyler," he insists desperately, "I know that you do!"

"I do love you, Doctor, I always will…but," she bites her lip and steels herself for his response, "I love him more."

He straightens up to his full height, his jaw tightening while he contemplates her words. "I see," he notes as he advances towards her. "You know, I've always thought you to be an extremely clever girl, Rose, and I'm sure that right about now that you're starting to realize how very, very, wrong that answer was."

"Not to me," she whispers, "no matter what the cost."

His smile grows more and more insidious as he moves closer to her and purrs, "Well then, let's just see what price that you're willing to pay."

It's at that moment that the slight hum of the coral changes more into a pulse, a pulse straight from the heart of the TARDIS, and Rose knows that it's time to make her move.

When he draws nearer, her eyes glow gold for just the merest increment of a second but it's enough to throw him off his guard and stumble back into the console where the TARDIS releases a shower of sparks in effort to give Rose a chance to escape. She bolts from the strut and as he reaches out to recapture her, she spins around in a roundhouse kick sending him flying to the ground.

She speeds out of the room, the passageways and doors all opening to her at a moment's notice until the corridors change and form into one long hallway directing her to one room in particular, one that she runs into as fast as her legs will carry her.

His footsteps echo down the corridor as he runs after her and the threat of the Time Lord Victorious looms ever closer. Once he realizes that there is nowhere left for Rose to run, the sound of his footsteps slows to a jog and then to a leisurely pace.

She surveys the room merely to find it empty and knows that the only thing to protect her from the Doctor is herself. The TARDIS has done everything that she can; the rest is up to Rose.

"Hello, Rose Tyler," he taunts from the doorway. "Long time no see!"

They move about the room as if in a dance, he advances and she retreats, each one never taking their eyes off the other, always watching the other for the barest indication of movement that will set off a new chase or entrapment.

That's why she's caught completely unaware when out of the blue, he halts in his tracks as it finally dawns on him exactly which room he's in. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, filling his lungs with the scent of a long forgotten memory from long ago, the smell of roses. He's in the Zero Room.

"Ahhh," he sighs in utter bliss, "I remember this room." He breathes in the air again and remembers, "I had to use it back in my Fifth regeneration, things went a bit wonky back then, you know how it is."

"It's incredibly peaceful," he muses fondly until he meets her worried gaze. "Well," he adds while tugging on his ear, "at least for some."

He steadily stalks toward her, giving her plenty of time to run and is slightly taken aback when she refuses to move from her position. He notices her stance is calm and relaxed and wonders what insane notion his Rose has up her sleeve now. She is his after all, he claimed her long ago whether she knew it or not, and again when he broke through the void to bring her back home with him. And she can't possibly be contemplating another escape plan because that's just never going to happen in this or any other of his lifetimes, he'll never let her go.

"Why are you smiling like that, Rose?" he asks out of mild curiosity. She retains her silence but only smiles more serenely, even offers him a hint of tongue poking out between her teeth simply to bewitch and befuddle him further. "Aren't you scared?" he inquires in a low tone designed to make her shiver in fear but oddly enough only causes her grin to widen. "Don't you know that I'm about to take what's mine?"

"Good thing that I don't belong to you then," she answers without hesitation or a trace of fear.

That did it. He moves to pounce on her and end this ridiculous cat and mouse game once and for all. And he would have done, if he wasn't so busy writhing and screaming in agony as he stood twisting before her unable to regain his bearings, eventually dropping harmlessly to the floor.

Satisfied that he was definitely out for the count, Rose lifts her gaze to find the Master glowering at the Doctor with a gaze so heated that it wouldn't surprise her if it left holes in him. "Gotcha," he hisses out of spite. Then he scans Rose for any injury. "Are you okay?" he demands as he removes the Vortex Manipulator off of his wrist."

"Yeah," she replies smoothly as she crosses her arms over her chest and arches an eyebrow at him. "I was just wondering what took you so long."


	3. Chapter 3

"Ugghhhnn, my head," groans the Doctor as he slowly awakens to take in his surroundings only to find himself once again bound by chains, but this time in the Zero Room.

The Master is sitting directly across from him straddling a chair while watching his every movement. "Aw, what's wrong, Doctor?" he inquires without a trace of sympathy. "Are you feeling a bit out of sorts?"

"You! What the hell are you doing here?" he rages while he jerks on his chains. "I left you behind!"

"Did you truly believe that I would leave you alone with Rose, even for one moment, if it wasn't all planned out to the minutest detail?" asks the Master with a smirk. "You were played Doctor and so easily too. I can only hope that it's your madness that's made you this dense."

The Doctor merely sits there seething as he absorbs the Master's words. It had all been a trap, a set up, and he had missed it by a mile. "Where's Rose?" he demands as his eyes scan for any sign of her.

"I'm right here," she replies as she enters the room, "I was just putting away the Vortex Manipulator."

"Where did you get it?" asks the Doctor while keeping his eyes trained on her. "I know Jack's is disabled, I made sure of it."

Rose walks over and stands alongside the Master. "Shortly after we returned to this universe, I contacted Jack and told him what happened to you and to see if he knew of anything that could help you. He didn't."

"However," picks up the Master, "once we finally realized how to snap you back to reality, he was more than willing to help us obtain another Vortex Manipulator. Apparently, he knew of a few Time Agents who had been careless enough a time or two to lose theirs and where we could find them."

"Which, of course, is how you were able to return to the TARDIS," grits the Doctor between clenched teeth.

"I had to leave the ship; otherwise you never would have believed that I had left. Even using my own telepathy to limit your link with the TARDIS, it's still strong enough that you'd know that I was still onboard. The Vortex Manipulator was the perfect failsafe to bring me back." The Master's mouth hardens into a grimace and he watches Rose kneel at the Doctor's side and he has to force himself not to bark out an order to stay away from him. It took him a long time to accept that she still loved the Doctor, albeit not in the same way that she loved him, and he doesn't want to betray her trust of his faith in her. He doesn't believe in a lot of things, he never has, but there's no doubt in his mind or heart that he believes in her.

Rose wraps her fingers around the Doctor's own, the only part of his arm that was left unbound by chains. "Once you knew the Master had left, the TARDIS weakened your bonds so that you would attempt an escape and she alerted me when you had so that I could go to your cell." She raises her free hand and runs it through his hair in an apologetic gesture. "I'm so sorry that I had to trick you into following me into the Zero Room, Doctor, but you know that if I had asked you that you never would have come willingly."

Her fingers curl more tightly around his and he gently squeezes them back as he drops his gaze to the floor. "So now I've lost my TARDIS to him as well as losing you, eh, Rose?"

"Doctor, no, it's not like that! We're only trying to help you and the TARDIS knows that, if not then she never would have offered her assistance!" She stares up at him beseechingly, her gaze begging him to understand as she moves the hand in his hair to his jaw and tilts his head to face her. "We only want to help you, Doctor, and now we know how to do it."

He merely sits there gazing at her sadly before he finally speaks. "And that can only be accomplished by teaming up with the Master, Rose? My worst enemy?" He nearly crushes her fingers in a punishing grip as he watches her with calculating eyes and flashes a cruel smile. "If you want someone who's capable of handling me, there's a certain eighteenth century French courtesan that I would be more than happy to recommend."

Rose barely has time to cry out in shock and pain before she hears the thudding of the Master's chair hitting the floor and stares on in horror as he grabs the Doctor by the throat and steadily increases his grip until the Doctor's face turns purple.

_**Never**_ _**speak to her like that again, do you understand me?"**_ growls the Master. "Rose is trying to help you because she loves you and I'm only helping you because I love _**her**__."_

Rose rushes to lay a placating hand on the Master's arm and pleads, "Master! Love, please don't do this! He didn't mean it; you know that, he not right in the head!"

The Master stares hard at the Doctor before he relents and releases him to drop his head down in a coughing fit. When the mad Time Lord is able to regain his ability to speak, he keeps his eyes shut to stave off the pain and takes in huge gulps of air. "Well, that was rude, both the attack and the words. I'm sorry too, Rose, maybe I should have asked for Sarah Jane instead." He opens his eyes and gives her a cold stare. "She always knew what to do, but maybe that's because she's a grown woman and not a child."

The Master cradles Rose's injured hand while she stares down the Doctor and refuses to flinch from either the pain in her hand or in her heart. "I wouldn't dare inflict you on her in your present condition. She deserves better than that, we all do."

He snorts in derision as the Master continues his inspection. "Nothing's broken," he declares angrily, "but there's a bit of swelling. We can go into the Infirmary now or wait until after this is done, it's up to you."

"We'll take care of it now," replies Rose firmly. "I told you earlier that I was ready for this." She casts a disdainful glance at their curious prisoner. "I want this done as soon as possible."

"You want what done?" He narrows his eyes in suspicion as he glares at them. "What are you two planning now?"

The Master stalks towards him and taunts, "Oh, you're going to love this, Doctor, it's something that you might have even thought up yourself at one time! And although I personally prefer putting you down like a rabid dog, Rose has persuaded me to have you fixed!" He pats his head like a beloved pet while the Doctor shakes off his hand in a fury.

"Knock it off!" orders the Doctor sternly. "What are you going to do to me?"

After casting a quick admonishing glance at her lover, Rose then turns to the Doctor and begins her explanation. "It's quite simple really, you see, we've been going about this all wrong, Doctor. The TARDIS has tried to reach you, the Master's tried using his telepathy, and I've even tried using Bad Wolf, but nothing seems to work so that led us to wonder what more could we really do. That's when the Master started regaling me with old stories and brought up one in particular about your Fifth life's regeneration not going as smoothly as it should have and that's when we realized, we needed to bring the Zero Room into play."

The Doctor's head jerks up as he notices the hum of the TARDIS grow steadily louder and more insistent at the same time that Rose and the Master intertwine their fingers and move towards him.

"What are you two doing?" he shouts while he struggles against his bonds. "Stay away from me!"

"What's that old saying, Doctor?" inquires the Master as Rose lays her hand on the wall behind the Doctor and her eyes begin to glow gold as the TARDIS' hum increases to a roar in his head. "Oh yes, it takes the Children of Time to save a village idiot." And with that final declaration, the Master stretches out his fingers along the Doctor's temple and along with Rose and the TARDIS, plunges into the Doctor's mind.

_**Contact.**_

They were inside the Doctor's mind. Rose remains in place, surveying everything around her, extremely grateful for the Master's hand still grasping hers and the constant hum and presence of the TARDIS in the back of their minds. This would be impossible to take on all alone, she has no idea how the Doctor has been able to suffer this madness by himself for so long.

The Master immediately does his own analysis of the Doctor's mind and grimaces at what he sees. Not only due to the obvious damage that any trained telepath could see caused by previous trauma and strain, but at the disorder that reigns about them.

If not for the ephemeral feeling that she was experiencing, Rose would swear that they were standing in one of the TARDIS' corridors. Numerous doors line the hallway that they're currently standing in and every time they hazard to open a door, they promptly discover that it is littered with clutter and debris.

The Master releases a mirthless chuckle as he studies the various interiors. "Unbelievable, I thought his mind would be better organized than this, it's in more disarray than his TARDIS."

The slight slur earns him an uncomfortable niggling feeling in the back of his mind and he is well aware of how lucky he is. If it wasn't for the fact that he was actually trying to help the Doctor, that niggling feeling could have easily been a heavy pounding inside his skull. "Sorry," he offers contritely. "Although to be fair, it is true." _OUCH. And there's that pounding. _He mock glares at the ceiling of the Doctor's mind. _You know that I'm going to need a clear head if I'm to accomplish anything. _The pounding instantly ceases. He releases a sigh and in kinder tones sends out, _Thank you._

Together, they search an abundance of rooms that seem to be popping up left and right as if merely to delay them in their final goal. And it works, but only for so long and when they eventually do meet their objective, they can do no more than stand together and stare at the sight before them. They stare not in relief, victory, disgust or even awe, but with extraordinary dread and great pity. For what lies before them is not the Time Lord Victorious but the Time Lord himself, or what remains of him. He is pressed against the darkest corner of his mind, curled into himself as he rocks back and forth, apparently the only comfort that he is willing to offer himself.

The Master and Rose's gazes slowly travel from his prone form to each other and without any words or gestures between them, silently proclaim that they will find the man that they had both called friend in prior lives and bring him back to them because after viewing this shattered man before them, nothing else will be considered acceptable.


	4. Chapter 4

The Master jerks his head to indicate to Rose that he's going to work with the TARDIS to begin their half of the task; the rest is up to her. With a silent nod as he recedes into the darkness, Rose slowly makes her way over to the Doctor until she's kneeling before him while tentatively stretching her arm out to him, not wanting to upset him further.

"Doctor?" Her gentle inquiry echoes throughout the hushed recesses of his mind. "It's me, Rose." She strokes her fingers softly through his hair in an effort to soothe him as she tries to hold her own tears at bay. "Everything's going to be fine now, Doctor…you'll see." Rose watches as he stills at the feel of her hand and the sound of her voice, and then she releases a sigh of relief when he almost instantly relaxes into her touch.

"Rose?" he croaks as he raises his head off of his arms and stares at her in a mix of grief and amazement. "Are you really here?" At her nod, he launches himself into her arms and pulls her tight against him. "It worked, Rose, it actually worked!"

He draws back just far enough to lean his forehead against hers and whisper against her mouth. "I tried everything to get back to you, Rose, anything that I could think of, no matter how dangerous. The last gamble was the worst and I wasn't that sure if either the TARDIS or I would survive, but it was worth it, my Rose, because you're here, you're finally here!"

Rose's answering nod is almost imperceptible but she whispers back in her most gentle tones. "That's right, Doctor, I'm back. I'm right here and I'm never going to leave you, not as long as you need me." She swallows harshly and blinks back a fresh wave of impending tears. "That's why the Master and I-"

"The Master?" chokes the Doctor in a hoarse voice as he thrusts her away from him. "Are you out of your mind? Why is he still here? I thought that other me was taking care of him?"

"Doctor," began Rose as she hesitantly reached for him again, "I told you, everything's alright. He's not going to hurt me and he's not going to hurt you. He's trying to help you, we all are." Her eyes narrow as she tries to assess his level of reasoning at the moment. "Doctor, what did you mean by 'other you'?"

His returning stare is suspicious, as if he's not quite sure who she is anymore given from what she's just asked him. He watches her for a few more moments before deciding that he can trust her, that he can take that chance. After all, he's taken so many of them already, what's one more to add to the list?

He slowly pushes himself away from the wall of his mind as he scoots towards her. "You know exactly who I mean, Rose Tyler, when I say 'other me'. Or can you honestly tell me that after all the time that we've spent together, after everything that we've been through, that you believe that the man outside of my mind is who I truly am?"

"Of course not, Doctor," she rushes to assure him with a fervent shake of her head. "The moment I saw him step out of the TARDIS, I knew that there was something wrong with you, um…with him…whatever, you know what I mean," she dismisses with a frantic wave of her hand. "What I don't understand is, how did all of this happen?"

He watches her with a kind expression, almost mournful in a way, at her incomprehension of the situation and of him, at how far he's gone for her and what he's still willing to do to keep her, no matter what it costs either of them. "I became a new man when I lost you, Rose. Colder, harder, so much worse than how you found me after the Time War. I knew that I couldn't go on that way, that the universe would suffer as I was suffering without you and I just couldn't let that happen."

The Doctor timidly reaches a hand out to hers before quickly withdrawing it and turning his face away to avoid her gaze completely. "That's when I gave into the darkness. The monster that lurks inside me, the one that's always been there, that's _him_. He's the one who had the strength and the courage and determination to bring you back here."

He stares down at the floor lost in his shame as he finally allows the tears to flow down his cheeks. "Not me, never me, Rose Tyler, because I'm the coward who runs away from you, every single time."

He lifts a pain filled gaze that matches her own and explains, "I had to give in to him, Rose, I had to relinquish total control to him in order to bring you back. The ferocity with which he worked, the sheer audacity at the attempts he made before he succeeded, he did things that I never did and never would!" She hears the agony in each syllable that he utters as he reveals, what to him is his darkest secret. "Things I wouldn't do, not even if they meant saving you."

_So that's it then_, realizes Rose miserably, _the man who claims that I've made him better is actually broken because of me._ She sighs as she looks around her into the darkness. _Now what do I do?_

_You make him better, Rose, just as you always do, _replies the Master in encouraging tones in her mind. _You didn't do this to him, he did this to himself. Both the Doctor and I were broken men long before you came into our lives and it wasn't simply your presence that healed us, it was you, it was all of you. You helped him once, you can help him again. You know what to do, Rose, help him with your heart, not with your mind._

With those final words, the Master's presence recedes from Rose's mind and when she looks at the Doctor again, she knows exactly what to do. She extends her arm until her hand lies atop his and tightens her grip when he tries to pull it away. "I told you," she grits between clenched teeth as she uses all of her strength to force his hand still as she forcibly interlocks their fingers together, "I'm not leaving you, not as long as you need me!"

Her words cause him to pause momentarily as he takes them in and he affirms in a whisper, "I will always need you, Rose Tyler, _always_." His eyes suddenly shine with gratitude and awe as he watches her shift closer to him, never once taking her eyes off of him or letting go of his hand. "Thank you, Rose, I'll never forget this, not as long as I live." He chuckles mirthlessly. "And we both know how long that is."

She smiles wryly in response and draws him towards her to cradle him against her. "We're all here for you, Doctor, and we're all going to get you through this, I promise."

"All of you?" he questions disbelievingly as he pulls away to stare uncomprehendingly into her eyes. "You can't be serious, Rose! You and the TARDIS are all that I need, the Master has to leave! And as soon as I'm strong enough to take over again, he will! I refuse to have that man near you or my ship!"

Rose opens her mouth to try and reason with him when he shakes his head in denial and spits, "He's my enemy, Rose, the worst of the lot! How could you even consider trusting him after all that he's done? I need you, Rose, not him! I'm the one that you need to focus on so that you can make me better, so that I can be the man that you remember and need me to be!"

"And you will be, Doctor, I promise you that!" She hauls him back to her and nearly crushes him with her embrace. "I am never giving up on you, no matter how long it takes, I swear it!" She slowly releases him and vows wholeheartedly, "My entire focus will be on you until you're well again!"

"You really mean that?" he questions hopefully. "You'll stay here until I'm better, you'll put all of your focus on me and not him?"

She runs her hand through his hair again and trails it down to cradle his jaw. "Yes, of course, I'd do anything for you, Doctor, you know that."

He lifts his own hand to touch her cheek and trace its contours as he slides his fingers tenderly into her hair. When he knows that he has regained her trust in him, he lightly trails his other hand through her hair on the other side of her head and curls his fingers against her temples as he drags her flush against him. "That's all I needed to hear, Rose Tyler!"

Her gaze widens in both shock and fear as he growls, "Now, Bad Wolf, it's time for you to huff and puff while I let myself in!"

The pain is excruciating. Not so much from the tangling of his fingers in her hair holding her in place so that she can't pull away from him, but the relentless onslaught of his forcing his mind into hers. He's pouring his essence into her, trying to dominate her and bend her will to his, make him see what sick and twisted reasoning has become his reality and why she should follow along without any protest.

And although he has violated her mind with his warped and perverted views of what he perceives of what their life will be like together, it his violation of her trust and faith in him that pains her the most. It for that reason alone, as she is forced to witness in memory all of the vile things and unimaginable acts that he has done in order to reclaim her from Pete's world, that she blissfully accepts the blackness that claims her as she falls into a state of complete unawareness.

**To Be Continued…**


End file.
